the state-administered higher educational examinations for self-taught students in china

104 Pages·1998·6.14 MB·English

THE STATE-ADMINISTERED HIGHER EDUCATIONAL
EXAMINATIONS FOR SELF-TAUGHT
STUDENTS IN CHINA
by
Chunling Wang
A thesis subrnitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts
Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto
O Copyright by Chunling Wang 1997
IJlIN ational iibrary Biblioth2 u e nationale
.,nada du Cana a
A uisitions and Acquisitions et
~aio~ra~Sheirvcic es seMces bibliographiques
3QS Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington
OttawaON KlAON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4
Canada Civrada
The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non
exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la
National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de
reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, disbn'buer ou
copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous
paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/tilm, de
reproduction sur papier ou sur format
électronique.
The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propiété du
copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse.
thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels
may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés
reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son
permission. autorisation.
Abstract
THE STATE-ADMINISTERED HIGHER EDUCATIONAL
EXAMINATIONS FOR SELF-TAUGHT
STUDENTS IN CHINA
Chunling Wang
Master of Arts
Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto
1997
Based on a review of the available literature in Qiinese and in English, this thesis gives an
overview of China's Higher Educational Examinations for SeKTaught St uden ts (HEE), an innovative
aspect of China's system for post-secondary adult education. The HEE is viewed as a pragmatic
response to a need for pst-secondary training within China's long traditional value of selection by
cenaalized extemal e m .G iven the severe national hancial liniits available, the HEE has optimized
the relatively high cost of building an infrastructure while m e e ~ gthe curent trainhg needs of
China's adult populace. The mechanisrn of this nationwide examination system and its rapid
developmnt over 15 years i detailed in terms of its administrative structure; examination operations;
exatnination subjects available; pronle of students; and academk assistance methods and technologies.
The HEE system is critiqued within China's social development, and its shortcomings in relation to
the trainhg needs of China's vast nual population and other problems associatecl with the practice
of the HEE are highlighted.
Contents
Abstract
List of Tables
1. BACKGROUND AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HEE
1. Historical legacy
2. AduIt education in China after the Cultural Revolution
(1) Education of adults in modem China
(2) The educational aftermath of the Cultural Revolution
(3) The shift of the state policy
(4) The shortage of post-secondary places
(5) Expansion of adult higher education
3. The establishment of the examination system
IL THE ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATION OF THE
EXAMINATION SY STEM
1. The national structure of administration
2. The operation of the examinations
3. Financing of the examinations and student fees
1. Dual level exarns and diplorna programs
2. The development of program areas
3. S tudents' choice of specialties and subjects
4. Exam guide books and self-study materials
Contents
W.S TUDENT ADMINISTRATION, STUDENT CHARAmRISTICS
AND STUDENT PROGRESS
1. Student administration: open entry and student files
2. Student characteristics
3. Students' progress, drop out and completion rate
4. Students' leaming abilities
5. Social accepmce of the HEE graduates
V. ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE
1. Programs of assistance for self-study students
(1) National unüied assistance by fields of study
(2) Assistance offered by Institutes of Higher Leaming
(3) Various NGO-sponsored assistance prograrns
2. Media, methods and teaching staff
3. Functions and characteristics
4. Problems and limitations
VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS
List of Tables
Table 1.1. Format of provincial and metropditan Civil Service
Examinations during the Ming Dynasty 4
Table 1.2. Statistics on high school graduates and regular university admissions 11
Table II. 1. National structure of the HEE administration system 17
Table II.2. Government expenditure on the HEE in Beijing: 1991-94 23
Table III. 1. Growth of the number of exam specialities over the years 31
Table III.2. Statistics on exam specialities by ngions, 1993 31
Table III.3. Exam guide books compiled by academic sub-committees as of Dec. 1989 38
Table m.4. Self-study text books prepared by academic subcommittees
as of Dec. 1989 39
Table IV. 1. Random survey of the Higher Educational Examination participants in
Guangdong Province 44
Table IV.2. Statistics on examinees' distribution by age in Yantai City for April 1995 45
Table IV.3. National statistics, Fall. 1992: percentage of exam participants
by occupations 46
Table IV.4. Distribution by occupations of Hubei examinees 46
Table IV5 Distribution of participants by level of education before the exams:
Jiangsu Province 49
Table IV.6, National statistics: Number of applicants, examinees, qualified examinees,
and graduates 50
Table N.7. Basic national statistics on the Higher Educational Examinations
as of ApriI, 199 1 54
Table IV.8. Survey result: pnor educational attainment of Beijing graduates, Fall, 1996 58
Table V. 1. NGO-sponsored academic assistance program enroilees in Beijing, 1987 67
Table V.2. Comparison between performance of examinees with or without assistance 7 1
INTRODUCTION
The system of Higha Educational Examinations (HEE)a vailable through noncampus based
self-education in China was established in early 198 1 on a trial basis and was developed shortly
afterwards into a nationwide system. It is a phenomnon that m e r sa need when available resources
allocated to campus-bas& formal university training is outstripped by the demand of the population
for this level of training. The rationale was to provide a total open opportunity to Chinese adults of
learning through independent snidy and of obtaining a university degree through a nationally available
extemal examination system.
This master's thesis d lfo cus on this vital innovation among the 1.2 billion population of
China and its fast development within 15 years into a multi-level administrative saucnue. The study
was derived from two main interests. The fint was an interest in the practice of distance education
for adult leamers within the Chinese context. The second concemed the fact that although there have
been many western En&h stuclies about distance education and open universi ties within the past two
or three decades, there is not much documentation on China's experience available on these topics
in Engiish There is now a relatively hge body of Chinese literature on this examination system, but
documented systematic studies of the HEE in its entirety are still not sufficient. More detailed and
critical research and studies focussed on this particular aspect of China's educational system need to
be donc in order to fully understand the characteristics of this recent educational innovation.
The purpose of this snidy is twofold:
(1) To give an in-depth overview of the HEE system h m t he perspective of western
educationai approaches. The rapid development of the system in the past 15 years will be detailed
. -
m tems of its adnmmtmtion, exaniination operations, academic assistance methods and technologies,
2
participating students, ond examination subjecu available. A main argument is that the HEE system,
like many other things and happenings in modem China, is an adaptation of an international mode1
and a pragmatic home-based innovation to suit local cultural customs and socio-economic
requirernents.
(2) To criticdy e d e th e advantages and limitations of the HEE examination systrm and
to offer suggestions for possible improvements through funhcr systematic study and in-depth
research.
The rnethod of the study is largely based on the review of the available Chinese literature and
the experiential observation of the author having lived in China during the development of the HEE
system and with an opportunity to interact with contemporary self-lemers.
The Chinese literature presentiy available is found buried in overall education policy studies,
written guidance and practical advice for self-taught students, and some moral educational essays on
how to self-teach oneself to become an educated socialist worker. Although most of the studies are
not written h ma critical perspective, they are conducted by people directly involved in education
policy making and educators working inside this examination system. Thus, the information revealed
and irnplied is considered to be diable.
1. BACKGROUND AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HEE
1. Historical legacy
The establishment of the state-administered examinations for self-taught students in China may
be regdeci as the inhentance and further development of ancient China's Confucian civil savice
examinations which staned in the fifth century of the modem era.
In order to strengthen his centralized govemment, the fmt emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Sui
Wen Di, began to select the high governent officers through a set of multi-subject national exams.
In 606 AD, the emperor Sui Yang Di followed this practice and set up an imperid Civil &ce
examination system, which enabled the imperial state to connol its human resources down to the
achxhimtive level of counties and prefcctures Cenaal and local officiais were selected fiom arnong
students who passed the state-administered exarninations, either with or without the assisrancc of
formal schooling. Confucian concepts, arguments, and beliefs were embedded into the nationai
educational practice via examinations by the emperor, and the bureaucracy that spoke for hirn.
Through changes over the dynasties, the system evolved to its final format during the Ming
dynasty (outlined in Table 1.1). Three testing sessions at both provincial and merropolitan levels were
aàmhistered aienniany over a period of sevdd ays. Nodly, candidates would take the provincial
examinations in the fd, and if successful, move on to the metropolitan examinations in Beijing and
Nanjing in the foiIowing *ring. A final palace examination was administered by the empaor himseif
to ensure impartial final rankings and personal political loyalty to him.
Each session was expected to be answered in one Nd ay in an essay form. Those who passed
thh stage were tested again for their physical prowess in horsemanship and archery and th& mental
prowess in calligraphy, rnathematics, and pend law. The questions underwent fquent changes
during the Qing Dynasty, but the main form remained largely the same.
Table 1.1. Format of provincial and metropolitan Civil Service
Examinations during the Ming Dynasty
Session Numk Number of questions
--
One
1. Four Books: 3 quotations
2. Change: 4 quotations
3. Documents: 4 quotations
4. Poetry: 4 quotations
5. Annals: 4 quotations
6. Rites: 4 quotations
Two
1. Discourse: 1 quotation
2. Documentary style: 3 documents
3. Judicid terms: 5 tenns
Three
1. Policy questions: 5 issues
Source: Benjamin A. Ehan 8t Alexander Woodside (eds). Education and Society in Late Imperid
China, 1600-1900. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994, Page 114
The examinations system lasted for mon than 1,300 years in China's feudal history until
Guang Xu, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, ordered it stopped in 1905. The tailored Confûciar.
teaching of obtaining career advancement through hard work and qualification through an extemal
exarnination system sril1 remains a more or less a general expectation within contemporary China's
population.
2. Adult education in China after the Cultural Revolution
(1) Education of adults in modern China
The term "adult education" was non-existent in the educational vocabulary in the post-
liberation period between 1949 and 198 1. Before 198 1, a Bureau of Workers and Peasants, original1y